The Searchers
Summary
John Wayne won his only Oscar forTrue Grit , but he should won for a classic John FordWesterninstead . Over the class of his 50 - twelvemonth acting career , Wayne fronted everything from romantic play to state of war epics and clowning . Of of course , Wayne ’s star in 80 Westernsleft him fairly typecast in that genre - something he never seemed to listen . He starred in his contribution of forgettable " Oaters " likeCahill U.S. Marshal , but he fronted many classic too . These let in Quentin Tarantino and John Carpenter ’s favorite filmRio Bravo , while 1939’sStagecoachgave Wayne his breakout persona .
TheJohn Ford / John Wayne WesternThe Searchersis not only involve as Wayne ’s best movie but one of the secure Westerns everproduced , period . The childlike apparatus sees Wayne ’s bitter Civil War vet setting out on a multiple - year - long quest to deliver his kidnapped niece . Everybody from George Lucas to Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg has sing the kudos ofThe Searchers , thanks to its great execution , unbelievable landscapes and colored , emotional chronicle .
In 1977 , John Wayne was need to list his five personal favorite films , which just so happened to include two popular moving picture of his own .
John Wayne Should Have Won His Oscar For The Searchers
Wayne was never better than as The Searchers' Ethan Edwards
The Searchersfeatures some of Wayne ’s deep work as an actor , with Ethan Edwards being up to of great warmth and kindness towards family and friends , but also being able of committing shocking turn of violence .
One affair about being a movie mavin is that audience are describe to see that histrion play a certain case of part . fan of Wayne playing a cowboy were very well served by his filmography , though many of these projects feature the ace diddle essentially the exact same persona again and again . The Searchersfeatures some of Wayne ’s deepest body of work as an role player , with Ethan Edwards being capable of swell warmth and kindness towards family and friends , but also being equal to of committing shocking enactment of ferocity .
Ethan ’s racism is so all - consuming that when he finally detect his niece Debbie ( Natalie Wood ) and learns she has joined the Comanche , he considers killing her or else . This is even disconsolate ifThe Searchers’theory about Ethan being Debbie ’s fatheris taken into invoice . The film saw Wayne probe new depths as a performer , and he went to place he never really attempted again . WhileWayne finally won his only Academy Award as Best Actor forTrue Grit , his work inThe Searcherswas more worth .
Custom image by Yailin Chacon
Why Wayne’s Searchers Performance Was Snubbed By The Academy
The Searchers was completely ignored at the 1957 Oscars ceremony
virtually 70 geezerhood on from its debut , The Searchersis hailed as a masterpiece . While some classics may not be shit as such when they debut , Wayne ’s dark odyssey received both positive reviewsandwas a box - office hit . Still , despite being a success by any metric , The Searcherswas stand in at the 1957 Academy Awards ceremony . Nods for Ford as Best Director and Wayne as Best Actor feel like a given , but or else , the Western failed to take in a individual nomination .
Instead , Around the World in 80 Dayspicked up the Best Motion Picture Oscar , Yul Brynner gain ground Best Actor forThe King and I , while Best Director went toGiant’sGeorge Stevens . It ’s commonly argued thatsinceThe Searcherswas an independent production made outside the studio system ( Warner Bros would end up pass around it ) this doomed its Oscars hazard . The business enterprise was dominated by studios during this time , mayhap accounting for Ford ’s epic being overlooked despite its obvious quality .
John Wayne Was Only Nominated For Best Actor At The Oscars Twice
One of Hollywood’s biggest stars was largely ignored come awards season
Wayne face well over 100 movies across his decennium as a run man and had a logical loge - office racecourse record . That said , since many of her performances tended to be Riffian on Wayne ’s instal screen persona , critic did n’t tend to glorify his work . This may account for the star only receive two Academy Award nods for Best Actor . Wayne ’s first Oscar nod was for 1949 warfare filmSand of Iwo Jima , and the second wasTrue Gritfrom 1969 .
Wayne always regretted not serve during the Second World War and made several warfare epics likeThe Fighting SeabeesorFlying Tigersthat celebrated American might . backbone of Iwo Jimawas released four year after the war ended but is the best of the bunch . Wayne ’s Marine Sgt . Stryker is another famous character for the adept , who is tough on his mankind so that they ’ll be prepared for the harsh battle that expect them once they see combat .
John Wayne lost out on the Best Actor award inSands of Iwo Jimato Broderick Crawford forAll the King ’s Men .
Custom image by Yeider Chacon.
Wayne ’s turn as the sottish , otiose Marshal Rooster Cogburn inTrue Gritis one of his best - known , and the turn that finally earned him his Oscar . He like the character so much thatWayne made his only subsequence with 1975’sRooster Cogburn , which also proved to be the superstar ’s next-to-last screen effort .
Wayne Previously Picked Up Two Academy Awards… For His Friends
John Wayne wasn’t a complete rookie when it came to collecting Oscars
He may not have won an Oscar forSands of Iwo Jimaor even been nominate forThe Searchers , butWayne still collected two Academy Awards during the 1950s for his chum . On both affair , this was because the winner could n’t see . The most bizarre case was Wayne collecting Gary Cooper ’s prize forHigh Noon , a movie whose political subtext Wayne famously detested . He hap on star in the moving picture himself for that reason , andWayne dubbedHigh Noonthe most " Un - American " Westernhe had ever watched .
John Wayne was famous for choke on labor that did n’t align with his political relation , but one flick in particular went on to net Gary Cooper an Oscar .
Regardless , the whizz was good friends with Cooper , and collected his Best Actor award while spill the beans Cooper ’s praise ; he also pretended to be mad he did n’t star inHigh Noonduring his spoken language . Wayne ’s second time collecting an Academy Award was for John Ford , who earn Best Director forThe Quiet Manin 1959 . This went on to be one of Wayne and Ford ’s well - hump projects , and it only made sense for the leading man to collect the trophy on his director ’s behalf .
John Wayne’s True Grit Oscar Was Something Of A Legacy Win
Rooster Cogburn was a great performance, but it wasn’t John Wayne’s best either
John Wayne ’s self-aggrandising here and now with the Oscars finally arrive at the 1970 Academy Awards . unfeigned Grithad been an unentitled success the year before , with critics praising Wayne ’s turn as Cogburn . When he collected his laurels , he observe his old sentence pick up " these beautiful favourable men , " and how it was always for friends . The star was intelligibly emotional at his belated awards ' credit , though inWayne ’s notorious 1971Playboychat ( viaThe Wrap ) he claimedTrue Gritdidn’t even order among his good Westerns , and he did n’t require awards to measure his success .
But I really did n’t involve an Oscar . I ’m a box - place superstar with a record they ’re going to have to run to catch .
Wayne even namecheckedThe Searchersin this chat , which he feel " … deserved more extolment than it got . " Wayne is supremely entertaining inTrue Gritand he feel it contained the in force scene of his career , where Cogburn think over on his failed effort to become a family man . His performance is also very hammy and blanket , so compared to his fantabulous , textured study inThe Searchers , it ’s clear which carrying into action is the best .
Wayne ’s statue forTrue Grithad an element of being a bequest winnings to it , with the award almost signifying a body of workrather than a single performance . While Wayne may have been enter the concluding form of his vocation during the seventies , he bide very active . Wayne fronted twoDirty Harryripoffs withMcQandBrannigan , in increase to Westerns likeRio LoboandThe Cowboys . His last performance inThe Shootistwas also desirable of awards attending , with the Western icon giving one of his most human turns followingThe Searchersas a gunslinger dying of cancer .
origin : The Wrap
The Searchers is a 1956 westerly drama star John Wayne . Wayne stars as Ethan Edwards , who goes searching for his missing niece after his chum ’s family is killed by the Comanche tribe . Helmed by theatre director John Ford , The Searchers is now considered one of the greatest American Westerns ever made .
Custom image by Yeider Chacon.
